Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III

In March 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan which included additional Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding in the amount of $17.5M in emergency grants for students. Federal guidelines indicate that Kansas State University may award grants for:

• Any component of the cost of attendance
• Emergency costs that arise due to the coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, healthcare (including mental healthcare), and childcare.

Funds from the HEERF III are not considered financial aid and do not affect a student’s current or future financial aid eligibility.

Financial Difficulties/Changes Due to Covid-19: If your family is experiencing financial issues (such as the loss of a job, reduction of income, or other extenuating circumstance), related specifically to the impact of the pandemic or otherwise, and would like to discuss emergency financial aid options and/or information about the process of a Professional Judgement for the 2021-2022 academic year, schedule an appointment to meet with a financial aid advisor at finaid@k-state.edu.

Total amount of funds received

Kansas State has received a total allocation of $34,806,988. HEERF III requires that universities receiving funding must distribute at least half of the money allocated to students. The use of funds for institutional support has not yet been determined.

Student Support

For HEERF III, the university has received $17,528,115 to provide direct support to our students in the form of emergency financial aid grants. Consistent with the federal legislation, we will prioritize these federal grants for students with exceptional need. 

Total number of students who have received funds

Date	Total Number of Students who have Received Funds	Total Amount Distributed to Students
April 1, 2021	3	$1,318
July 1, 2021	0	0
October 1, 2021	7,145	$6,482,656
January 1, 2022	521	$453,341.16
April 1, 2022	5,582	$5,373,610
July 1, 2022	34	$24,546
October 1, 2022	922	$1,743,987
January 1, 2023	352	$591,323
April 1, 2023	1,090	$1,829,333

In accordance with the Department of Education guidelines, KSU will distribute the emergency student grants in the following ways:

Eligibility & Awarding Parameters - Academic Year 2022-2023

Group 1: Direct Award: Kansas State Land Grant Commitment:

• Student must be a degree-seeking, undergraduate student enrolled in at least 12 credit hours for the Fall 22 term and packaged with federal aid on August 7, 2022.
• Student must have filed a 2022-23 FAFSA and have an EFC in Federal Pell Grant range (0 – 6,206)
• Student must be working toward first undergraduate degree
• Variable award amount equivalent to 15 credit hours, calculated at the in-state tuition rate not covered by federal, state, or other K-State grants and scholarships
• Students in this group do not need to request or apply for these funds

Group 2: Direct Award

• Awarded in Spring 2023
• Student must have been enrolled full time at K-State for both the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters as of each, respective census date
• Student must have filed a 2022-23 FAFSA and have been packaged with federal aid by April 1, 2023
• Student are not eligible if they have already received a HEERF grant under Group 1 above for the academic year
• Eligibility premised on total gift (free) aid provided by federal, state, and institutional sources combined with the student’s calculated Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Individuals with a combined value of less than 10,000 receive a total HEERF award of $ 914 or $915.

Eligibility & Awarding Parameters - Academic Year 2021-2022

Group 1: Direct Award: Kansas State Land Grant Commitment:

• Student must be a degree-seeking, undergraduate student enrolled in at least 12 credit hours for the Fall 21 term, and packaged with federal aid on August 18, 2021, or Spring 2022, and packaged with federal aid on February 3, 2022
• Student must have filed a 2021-22 FAFSA and have an EFC in Federal Pell Grant range (0 – 5,846)
• Student must be working towards first undergraduate degree
• Variable award amount equivalent to 12 credit hours, calculated at the in-state tuition rate not covered by federal, state, or other K-State grants and scholarships
• Students in this group do not need to request or apply for these funds

Group 2: Direct Award: Exceptional Need

• Students are degree-seeking undergraduate, graduate, or vet-med students enrolled for the Fall 21 term on August 18, 2021, or Spring 22 term on February 3, 2022
• Students in this group must have filed a 2021-2022 FASFA and have exceptional financial need, as documented by the results of their FAFSA at the time of the award
• Due to limited funding during the Spring 2022 term, EFC maximum was reduced from 20,000 to 11,000

Find help determining Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

Fall 2021

Zero - 9,000 EFC
Full time	$1,000
Part time	$500

9,001-20,000 EFC
Full time	$500
Part time	$250

Spring 2022

Zero - 9,000 EFC
Full time	$1,000
Part time	$500

9,001-11,000 EFC
Full time	$500
Part time	$250

Group 1 and Group 2 awards are not “stackable.” Instead, students will be awarded the higher calculated amount between the two methodologies.

Group 3: Exceptional Need Application - Fall 2021 Only

• Fall 2021: Students who have encountered unexpected educational-related expenses due to COVID-19 and who were not eligible for any funds under the previous 2 groups above are invited to apply for a limited number of HEERF 3 funds via an application made available by the Office of Student Financial Assistance. For example, students who are unable to complete a FAFSA, such as international students, may apply.
• Spring 2022: Due to limited funding, an Exceptional Need Application is not available.

Group 4: Those not eligible to file a FAFSA

• Spring 2022: International students will be invited to submit an application for possible modest awards, if they have incurred eligible expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Spring 2022: Other, students not eligible to file a FAFSA, such as DACA students, are encouraged to reach out directly to the Office of Student Financial for possible assistance HEERF 3 Grant assistance, if they have incurred financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Office of Student Financial Assistance encourages students to file a Professional Judgment Appeal when they or their household have suffered a loss of income directly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The office may, under such circumstances, consider the awarding of additional HEERF III funds.